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Welcome to Centers and Squares

As a Cambridge real estate agent, the city squares of Cambridge, Somerville and Medford and the town centers of Arlington, Watertown and Belmont, Massachusetts are my home turf. And as a lifelong New Englander who’s lived within twenty miles of Boston most of my life, I can introduce you to other nearby towns as we search for your new home. If you’re planning to sell your home in Cambridge, MA or nearby you’ll find plenty of info about the home selling process here too. Questions? Send me an email or call me at 617-504-1737.

2012 has been a year of bidding wars in Cambridge. Just how often are they happening? I decided to take a look at the numbers of Cambridge houses selling for over asking price. How many houses in Cambridge sell for over asking?

As of yesterday, 117 houses had sold in Cambridge since January 1st. Of the 117:

48 sold for over asking

11 sold for full price

58 sold for less than asking price

So, slightly more than half of all Cambridge houses sold to date in 2012 sold for full price or more.

In fact, this is the first year that I recall seeing the MLS report I run with a Sale to List Price ratio for all sales at more than 100%. In other words, on average, Cambridge houses have sold for more than asking price in 2012. The sale to list price ratio for Cambridge houses sold in 2012 is 102%. That number is usually high – somewhere in the 90s – but this is the first time I recall seeing the total – not just one price band – exceed 100%.

Those numbers don’t tell the whole story. While almost half of the houses sold for less than full price often the discount was rather negligible – a few thousand on a house selling for hundreds of thousands. Just a handful sold for discounts of 7 to 11% off the asking price.

The premiums paid in multiple bids however was often much larger – $516,000 for a house priced at $399,000; $$450,000 for a house with an asking price of $369,000; $3,150,000 for a house priced at $2,400,000, etc. A number of sale prices were 20 to 30%+ over the asking price.

If you’re hoping to sell your Cambridge home for top dollar or if you’re hoping to buy and want some expert guidance in how to prevail in this market, give me a call – I’d be happy to help. Liz Bolton, ReMax Destiny, Cambridge. 617-504-1737.